60 degree tail stock/live center?

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mbower

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
55
Location
Ashburn, VA, USA.
Most of my pen instructions say that the tail stock on my lathe should be a 60 degree live center.

Can someone tell me why this matters? I've been using the live center that came with my lathe (Rikon midi) and have had no problems (that I know about).

Does it really matter?

TIA
 

cowchaser

Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2007
Messages
927
Location
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, USA.
I am going to take a stab at this, but may get corrected. A pen Mandrel is made to accept the 60 degree live center. Anything else may cause slipping and with slipping it causes heat build up.
 
M

monkeynutz

Guest
This is because the dimple on the end of most mandrels is milled at 60-degrees (ostensibly). A 60-degree live center is complementary to this, and spreads out the contact throughout the mandrel-center joint. A live center that is too pointy or too blunt does not make good contact, and may result in problems, including shredding up the center point and/or the mandrel.

You may not have had any problems if your Rikon center is already 60-degrees. That is pretty much a standard these days, and Rikon may be following suit. If your center is a "cup" type (with a center point and then a ring outside of that) the center point may also be 60-degrees.

If your center spins properly and quietly, and there is no evidence that the mandrel is wearing harshly on the point of the center, then you probably have nothing to worry about.
 

Rifleman1776

Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2004
Messages
7,330
Location
Mountain Home, Arkansas, USA.
A live center that is other than 60 degree will work but will also wear out in an attempt to fit the dimple. If you buy a new live center to fit, do get one that is made for machine tools. All too often live centers made for woodworking are not hardened steel. Machine ones are.
 
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